Art Exhibits

Center Gallery, Main Level:

FACES FROM THE SOUTHERN OCEAN

J.J. L’Heureux is a visual artist based in Venice, CA who makes documentary-style photographs, paintings, and collages. She is an environmentalist who is interested in the micro and the macro. This has led her to photograph both near and far— the community around her Venice Beach studio, as well as the exotic Antarctic landscape.

In 2000, L’Heureux made her first foray to Antarctica and returned every year thereafter, accumulating a huge archive of digital images that range from close-ups of albatross and penguins to expansive shots of the Ross Ice Shelf, as well as more intimate pictures of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds. L’Heureux initially traveled to Antarctica to photograph the patterns of ice and snow as source material for a series of abstract paintings. She was seduced and intrigued by the beauty of the white on white wilderness and realized there were more aspects of the landscape that attention must be paid to. She expanded her project to include photographing Antarctica’s environs, wildlife, and history.

L’Heureux is a naturalist and true adventurer. Her numerous photographic series include images of penguins, seals, and polar bears in the Arctic, along with photographs of the people she encounters on her expeditions. To travel so far and endure harsh conditions takes a seasoned traveler, and if L’Heureux was not that before, her first journey she has certainly become one.

Between the coast of Antarctica and 60 degrees south latitude lies the Southern Ocean with over 20 million square kilometers of deep, cold water. Northward, at the every shifting Antarctic Polar Front, these cold Antarctic waters sink beneath warmer water from surrounding oceans forming a natural boundary. Mariners, fisherman, scientists, and tourists visit, but no people live in this forbidding region year-round. The main inhabitants are the many species that have evolved to thrive in the harsh Antarctic climate.

The Southern Ocean’s cold, deep waters, its many islands and the giant ice covered continent of Antarctica have their own ecology and unique natural history. Penguins, albatrosses, seals, and sea lions depend on the ocean for food and on Antarctica and the ocean’s islands for places to rest, nest, and raise their young. Adapted to the Southern Ocean region they have lived there for millions of years and seem at home among rocky crags and floating icebergs.

Exhibition organized through Katharine T. Carter & Associates.

Art Mezzanine:

GATEWAYS TO IMAGINATION BY NICOLE GORMAN

For as long as I can remember, I have loved books.

When I was younger, I would make my grandfather re-read the same Mother Goose book to me so often that I had it memorized cover to cover before I could even read. Even now, I read the entire Harry Potter series over every year. The magic of stories
has never grown old.

My grandfather was always a “kid at heart.” I loved that about him. He taught me a lot. One of the best lessons from him, which I realized after having my son, is that stories can come to life. Dreams are real. You can find buried treasure in the backyard. All you need to do is believe and use your imagination, and a whole new world could open up to you.

I thought this collection would be a great way to use these lessons. My hope is to bring to life my love of books and the magic of the stories they contain.

Upper Level:

SUNSET SCIENCE: PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL FLORIO

Connecticut native Michael Florio has a huge passion for photography, art, science, and technology. His love of these subjects has brought him through a rabbit hole of wonder and amazement. His desire to share the incredible aspects of our universe with others is captured through a dynamic study of sunsets and the fascinating reasons why we experience the glorious colors in a twilight sky.

He wishes to reignite the imagination in adults and inspire young people, whether it is through the art of photography, exploring the cosmos through a telescope, or creating an at-home science project.